There’s quite a bit of gossip floating around in the world of next gen consoles at the moment, and all sorts of hypothetical middle fingers being thrown around by the big three of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. While only the latter has given away the full details of their next console – the Wii U – details are slowly trickling on to the sweaty brows of gamers everywhere regarding Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s, as of yet, unnamed system.
Largely under the influence of tech such as the iPad, we’ve seen moves towards sleeker design and more digital content in most forms of media. The Xbox 360 for example, has evolved from its originally beastly, testosterone fueled box design to a shiny black cuboid of wireless gaming and buttons that are caressed, not pushed. And in regards to their next console, Microsoft have claimed they are to opt for an entirely downloadable experience, with games bought and transfered online, rather than purchased as disks.
Sony however, despite their interest in the OnLive “Cloud Gaming” service, have stated that they will be retaining a disk drive in their next console, citing the internet availability and speed of their customers as too variable. In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, GameStop CEO Paul Raines agreed that while “the technology is inevitable,” , “it’s still going to take longer to happen than it did for music and movies.”
We’re not quite yet having games streamed directly in to our brains, living in a Daft Punk video, but it seems that the companies are in agreement that the future of gaming is wireless. We can expect a lot more news about new consoles with E3 coming next week.
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